Hi. Welcome to Module 2.1, the Research University and Transferable Skills.

Really excited
to share with you the mission of a
research university. We're going to go over the California
Master Plan. And if you've never heard of that, you're not alone. Many students I meet have
never heard of the California
Master Plan, but it's so
critically important. So I'm excited to
introduce this to you. If you haven't yet
heard about it. We're also going to
talk about sort of the difference between the College of
Letters and Sciences and the schools at
UCLA putting UCLA within sort of context of this California
master plan. And then really unpacking the mission of a
research university, the kind of
skills that are required to engage
in research, and how you can find value in a research
university, whether or not you decide to pursue formal
research or not. And if you are interested in pursuing
formal research, we're going to highlight some key research centers on campus that I'll
support you with that. And I will close
this module by talking about
transferable skills and the transferable skills
that you can acquire by attending a research one university
such as UCLA. So the California
Master Plan, I did not hear about this until I was a
graduate student, and it blew me away because I think it's such valuable
information and can provide great
clarity and can support high school
students make an informed decision about the institutions in
which they apply. And so in 1960, the Regents and the State Board of
Education approved this master plan for higher education
institutions in California so that the three distinct higher education public
school institutions don't have
competing demands. So, for example, the UCs, the Cal States and
community colleges, the UC, their mission
was to produce and disseminate
research and have a pipeline to graduate and
professional school. The Cal States, their main mission
was to produce the next professional
workforce and to have a
pipeline two career. And of course, California
Community Colleges open access anyone who would benefit
from instruction. This has great
implications on sort of the type of curriculum and
majors that you will find at these
institutions. One isn't necessarily
better than the other, but it definitely informs
curriculum design. For example, because the
UC's main purpose is to produce and disseminate
research and have a pipeline to graduate and professional schools, Major isn't necessarily directly
correlated with career. Much of the academic disciplines that
you will see, particularly in the College of
Letters and Sciences are very theoretical
and broad. And the curriculum
is designed in a way to get you to
think about, right, through evidence
based research, the why, not just the what and the
how of something. Now, at the Cal
State system, because there
is this mission to produce the next
professional workforce, you'll have specific
majors that you won't find at UCLA that are directly
tied to career, such as criminal justice, forensics, business
administration. Even at UCLA, you know, business economics isn't business administration
specifically, right? Now, this doesn't
mean that UCLA doesn't prepare you
for the career. And it doesn't mean
that the Cal states don't value research. They just didn't want to have competing
missions, right? So they've created this California
master plan. When I've shared this with students in my seminars, they've had this
ah ha moment, like, Oh, that
makes sense. That's why certain classes kind of felt a
certain way. But when they
realize this, they have a greater
understanding sort of of the
bigger picture and can lean into learning sort of the why of something and
how to think, think critically, ask
compelling questions, approach our world's
greatest challenges with innovation, through collaboration, and through evidence
based research. So I hope that when
you reflect upon this, that it's not discouraging for you that you
don't feel like, Oh, I made the
wrong choice. You're here now. So I invite you
to think about, now that I know
this information, what do I do with it and how can I connect
with UCLA? And so just kind
of zooming in to UCLA sort of from the larger California
master plan, I want to take this
opportunity to, you know, distinguish between the College of
Letters and Sciences and the schools, right? So We have the School
of Public Health, the School of Music, the School of Nursing, the School of
Public Affairs, the School of Education, the School of Engineering, just to name a few. As you can
see
the schools, there is a direct sort
of correlation or a connection between
coursework and career. That applied sort of experiential
component is built in to the curriculum. The College of
Letters and Sciences is so broad, right? Letters, anything in the humanities and
social sciences. And the sciences
is, of course, anything in the life
in physical sciences. There isn't necessarily
a direct correlation between anyone
major and career. So, for those of you in the College of
Letters and Sciences, you know, it's okay to explore and think about
what interests you, what you're curious about, and to start drawing connections across
disciplines. You know, the
world doesn't exist in isolation
and sort of under one academic
discipline or a major. The more you can draw connections,
for example, between what
you're learning in your literature class and what you're learning in your history class
to understand the historical context of that period of time, of the novel in which
you're reading, it's going to
add dimension. It's going to add texture
to your knowledge. So we also invite you
to be intentional about what kinds of experiences
and opportunities outside of the classroom you wish to engage in, because again,
that'll add dimension to your profile and
your portfolio. Now that we've
looked at the California Master Plan and sort of the context of
UCLA within that plan, I'd like us to zoom in on the mission of a
research university. I know many students
who have come to UCLA because it's
their dream school. And that's great.
That's okay. It's an amazing
place to be. I've loved being here
for the past 20 years. But many students also
don't realize that this is a highly rigorous research
one institution. And the mission of a
research university such as UCLA is to
produce research, right through
publications and a scholarship and to disseminate it
through teaching. And so what is it? It's the systematic
investigation, right? So that's important.
There's a system to it. There's a methodology into the study of materials
and sources, so not just sciences
and beakers, but it could be
anything from the letters and sciences in order to
establish facts. So it's not just about
opinions and what we think and reach
new conclusions. So we're always trying
to advance knowledge. So I want to
take this moment to underscore
the importance of diversity to a
research university. Because if we had students from the same educational background,
socioeconomic background,
same, you know, high school or community
college training, we wouldn't
necessarily have diverse perspectives
and viewpoints, because even though
there's a methodology, and we're examining
facts and it's evidence base,
what we bring, our perspectives, how we evaluate
that research, and what we
contribute to it, our contributions to the scholarly conversation, really depend on sort
of the diversity of our student body and our faculty and our staff. And so what does
research require? And I think this is
what's really exciting because even if you never saw yourself as
a researcher, you're already doing
these great things, and you have these kinds of skills and qualities, and it's a matter
of honing them. Reading, analyzing,
creative thinking, writing, you'll be doing quite a bit of
that in college. But curiosity, that's the most important thing. What are you
curious about? That's what's going
to continue to motivate you in
your studies. And it's also an
amazing quality you'll want to continue to hone throughout your life. And so these are all
wonderful transferable
skills, right? Critical thinking,
reading, analyzing, creative thinking, writing, in
depth knowledge. These are all
transferable skills that employers are looking for regardless of the field or industry, because what
and
the how may change, but how you approach
any kind of problem or solution requires these type of
transferable skills. If you are interested in undergraduate
research at UCLA, we have two incredible undergraduate
research centers. So one for the humanities and social sciences, URC Ha, and one for the
sciences,
URC Sciences. I encourage you to
connect with them. They are incredibly
supportive. They are champions of
undergraduate research. They can show you
how to connect with faculty in pursuit
of that engagement. And if this is something
that interests you, I want you to think
about what is a research topic that
you hope to pursue? What would it
entail? And how can your community of scholars support you in
this endeavor? So take a moment to
reflect on that. Feel free to
pause if you're interested in
sort of looking up these research centers. And for those of you
who are not interested in pursuing formal
research, that's okay. There is a place for
you here. At UCLA. In fact, this is an opportunity in
your coursework to really hone marketable skills
and competencies, such as complex
thinking, data analysis, communication,
and working both independently
and in teams. You're also able to gain tangible experiences
that students may speak about
concretely, such as project
management, self directed learning, application of
theory, hands on experience in
a lab or a site. And understand
the connections between research
and practice. How is research
embedded into various careers or
fields or sectors? This is something that is a really great, thoughtful
practice, right? Thinking about
the relationship between research
and practice, what does the data say? What does the
research say? Right? Really thinking in those terms can help
you make data and form decisions as you engage in creative thinking
and analysis. So, for your self
reflection prompt, that is due on
Brew and Learn, identify the skills you hope to develop in Home. How might you develop
these skills at UCLA. And this can
be both inside and outside of
the classroom. It could be through direct research
opportunities or not. Again, key
campus resources are here to support you, and they're working in
collaboration with us. So I invite you
to reach out. Again, visiting hours
are by appointment, so please e mail
me and all of my information can be found on the
Breen Learn site. You've got this.
Don't forget to take the quiz and submit yourself reflection
assignment, so you can move on
to the next module.

Hi. Welcome to Module 2.2, sense of belonging

at UCLA and Beyond. So an overview
of this module. First, I invite you to reflect on your
connection to UCLA. I will introduce
you if you have not already been introduced to
Strayhorn's work. He's done
extensive research in higher education
on sense of belonging and its
implications to student learning
and engagement and their connection to
their institution. I will demonstrate how you might consider crafting your connection to CLA. And
then I will also
talk about sense of belonging from the context of being a
transferable skill, that this is something we want to think about even beyond college in terms
of our career paths. And finally, I also want to share and highlight
some key resources for support that
will foster sense of belonging and help you develop
that connection. So before we
really get into the content of
this module, I invite you to reflect
and feel free to pause for a few minutes to really think
about this? Now that you're aware of the mission of a
research university, right, which is to produce and disseminate research, to really advance
knowledge. Do your values and interests align
with this mission? Do you feel a
connection to UCLA? And remember, from
the previous module, even if you don't intend to pursue formal research, you're still getting that
academic
training, right? You're still learning
research methodology. And so there's still so much value to
gain from it. But do you feel
a connection? Do you feel like
you belong? I hope you do. Your feelings and
experiences matter. UCLA is a very
large campus with so many opportunities
for engagement. When I first came here
as a graduate student, I was incredibly
overwhelmed with all of the different
opportunities for engagement and all
of the resources. I felt like my coursework
was just so much. And how was I going to, you know, continue to be as involved as I
was in undergrad? And you know, I think it's important for us to, you know, share with you that
feeling a sense of belonging is
a human need. It's a motivating force. It can have great
implications on how we feel, our confidence, and how we're able to contribute, but also to gain
from the experience. So your relationship
to UCLA matters. And I've shared this
in previous modules, and it's worth emphasizing over
and over again. Your journey is your own. There is not one cookie cutter
way to do this. So I invite you to
imagine how you fit into a research university
and consider what you would like
to learn and experience on
your journey. You know, I was
teaching a seminar, and we were talking about engagement and engaging
in campus life. And I had a student who was a
parenting student. She had a young son, and she was almost in tears listening
to her peers, talk about all the student orgs
they were part of these great research opportunities they
were engaging in. And, you know, she
was very vulnerable because that's the kind of space we had in class, and shared that she
didn't have the time or the capacity to do all of those
things, you know? She was a
transfer student. She had a young son. She would basically
do her homework, care for her child, go to her classes,
work part time. And, you know,
she did have support from her family, but she wasn't able to engage in the way that
we were talking about. And so that taught me a
very valuable lesson, that engagement looks very differently
for everyone. And we met several times
in visiting hours. And we determined
that for her, meaningful engagement
and finding that sense of belonging was really
through office hours, engaging with
her faculty and instructors in
office hours. She had the time and
the capacity for that, and it directly helped her with her coursework. And that was more than
enough for this
particular student. And in fact, the
relationships that she cultivated over time really gave
her the confidence, the connections,
and the experiences to apply to
graduate school and to get admitted into
graduate school. So I invite you to
be kind to yourself, to give yourself grace, and to really reflect on what is
meaningful to you. I want to take
this opportunity to highlight a couple of quotes from the
assigned reading, which is Charles
Strayhorn's publication that focuses on
sense of belonging. And his definition of
sense of belonging. In terms of college, sense of belonging
refers to students' perceived
social support on campus, a feeling or sensation
of connectedness. And the experience
of mattering or feeling cared about,
accepted, respected, valued by and important to the campus community
or others on campus, such as faculty
staff and peers, this is so
important, you know, it breaks my heart
when students share with me
that they don't feel that sense
of belonging. That signals to me that
my colleagues and I, we need to think
about how we can make that happen
and how we can invite students
to reflect on sort of what
that meaningful connection could
look like. Because, as this
very next quote, Highlights, it's a relational reciprocal
relationship. There's a reciprocal
quality to it. So sense of belonging
is relational. And thus, there's a
reciprocal quality to relationships that provide a sense
of belonging. Each member benefits from the group, and the group, in a sense, benefits from the
contributions
of each member. The university needs
you just as much, and maybe a little more so than you
need it, right? Your ideas, your
experiences, your perspectives,
you know, how you read the
The, you know, academic coursework,
the readings, the research,
your perspective is incredibly
important, right? You add such
richness, right? You are a gift to
the institution, to this teaching and
learning endeavor. So not only do you gain, but others benefit from your
contributions here. And so thinking about
your connection to UCLA and crafting that
with intention, right? Some things I invite
you to consider. And it could be one or all of these
things, right? Depending on your needs, your capacity, and what engagement looks
like for you. So connecting to your
coursework and your major, UCLA is
challenging. It's hard for smart
people by design. It's meant to
challenge you in ways that you have
never imagined. It should be challenging,
but not miserable. If you're miserable in every single class,
every single quarter, come and talk to an
academic advisor, because we might want to rethink the program
that you are pursuing. It should be aligned with your strengths,
your skills, your interests, not to the point where
it's too easy, but you want to have
that connection to it. Want to be
excited about it. Of course, there's
the occasional one or two
classes, you know, I can think of a
couple in undergrad that I'd be happy
not to take again. But it shouldn't be
your entire major. Build relationships
with faculty, staff, peers. You know, a reason to go to office hours
beyond just learning about more content
in the class is to build that
rapport with faculty, to find out, you know, why they pursued
this career path. How did they know
they wanted to research their specific
field of interest. It's an opportunity to connect on a human level. Right? And staff
all across campus, are invested in
creating programs and initiatives and
learning opportunities and resources for
your support. And of course, with
your peers, you know, when I think
back to college, I'm still friends with some of my closest
friends from college. It's amazing
what that time of life right,
can give to you. With regard to
joining clubs and student orgs or living
learning communities, I would invite
you to think about what is most
important to you. What is fulfilling for you and not just feel
like you have to check off all the
boxes and get involved in as many
things as possible. It's really quality
over quantity. And then reflect on
your evolving needs. You're going
to continue to grow and evolve throughout college and seek support to fulfill those needs. You
don't have to
do this alone. All of this is setting
the foundation for that college to
career transition. Opportunities at UCLA, that foster sense
of belonging, we have the student
organizations leadership and engagement, Sole. We have the undergraduate
research centers, we have UCLA living
learning communities. And these are just a few. This is not an exhaustive
list by any means. We have the Academic
Advancement program, Bruin Resource
Center, first to go Program,
Transfer Center. The list goes on and on. But if you are kind
of reflecting on this and needing support,
connect with us. We will be able to connect you to the appropriate
resource for support. So at this time, I would like you to just kind
of pause and reflect, do you feel a sense
of belonging at UCLA? Why or why not? How may you cultivate that
connection to UCLA? How can we help you cultivate
that connection? Again, it's not solely just your responsibility. We are here to
support you in that. And one of the last things I want to kind of end with is this
notion that sense of belonging is a
transferable skill, honing skills of
self reflection, community building, fostering
communities of care. These are all
essential to overall all well being
and fulfillment, even beyond UCLA. I hope that when you enter your next chapters in life,
wherever you land, that you feel a
sense of belonging, that you feel you matter, that you're contributing, that you're respected. And
that's going
to come if you're really in touch
with your values. So reflect on
your values and the values of your future
career or employer. Do those values align? You may not know
what your future career is or
your employer. But if you start
practicing this now, that'll stay with you, and that'll be there with you as you're
thinking about sort of where you want
to land after college. What kind of work culture would you thrive in? How do you want
to contribute to an organization
or field, right? Every organization
or field typically has a vision, mission,
objectives, and so you want to kind of
think about alignment. And of course, I want
to remind you of key campus resources
that we've introduced you
to throughout these modules to support you along this journey. And finally, I just want
to close by saying, you belong, you
belong, you belong. UCLA does not make mistakes when
they admit you. It's highly competitive to come get accepted to UCLA. And you have
demonstrated that regardless of your educational
background, you have the ability
to thrive here. It now at this point, it's what do you
want to gain? What do you want to do, and how do you want to grow so that you are prepared
for
your next chapter. So again, stay connected. Please feel free
to reach out if you would like to connect during
visiting hours, which are by appointment, and all of that can be found on Brew and learn. So
you've got this.
Don't forget to take this short
quiz and submit any self reflections
that are due at this point before you can move on to
the next module.